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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29900439">When I see you again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragdollrory/pseuds/ragdollrory'>ragdollrory</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Actors, Child Actors, Childhood Friends, Ensemble Cast, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, a decade of pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:33:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29900439</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragdollrory/pseuds/ragdollrory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>And the night everyone's been waiting for has finally arrived! The tenth anniversary gala for the multimillionaire, and beloved by kids and adults alike saga, Willow and the Paladins of the Universe!</i>
</p>
<p>Shiro can’t help but to think of the last time the two of them had been like this, quiet, content in each other’s company. The very last day of the very last promotional tour, right before Shiro had to hop on a plane to start shooting his next film. Too stupid not to confess, and ask Keith to go with him.</p>
<p>He doesn’t want to do that now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sheithlentines 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>When I see you again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my entry for the sheithlentines exchange 2021. A gift for <a href="https://twitter.com/ImaginationCubd">Luna</a>. One of her prompts was a celebrity AU where they were both actors, and I had lots of fun thinking about the universe where all of this happens.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy!</p>
<p>I want to thank the event's mods for their great work hosting the event, Hiro and Cisma for letting me run my ever-changing ideas past them, and <a href="https://twitter.com/kacyinthecosmos">Kacy</a> for her beta work!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>And the night everyone's been waiting for has finally arrived! After a week of Q&amp;A shows and panels, and the relaunching of the movies in theatres all over the world, the event that has been the talk of the movie industry for months is finally here. The tenth anniversary gala for the multimillionaire, and beloved by kids and adults alike saga, Willow and the Paladins of the Universe!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It's the event of the year, and I'd dare say the event of the decade as well! After all, who hasn't grown up with the paladins' adventures throughout time and space? Following their travels and battles, installment after installment, seeing them go from lost kids handed a much-too-big responsibility, to barely-holding-it-together teenagers, and saviours of the universe at last! I know I have.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>A magical</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>-</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span> and I’d daresay trascendental</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>-</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span> event for sci-fi fans around the world when the first book came out, and we were regaled with a diverse group of heroes, with depth, growth and meaningful characterizations. And even more so when the movie production proved to be following both author and readers’ hopes, and the cast was exactly as described and just how our collective imagination had envisioned them.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>There was little more to be asked of a movie adaptation of what had originally started off as a kids’ story, that then started to slowly grow and evolve with its readers. Little did we know back then, that ten years from the ending of a decade long worth of movies, we’d be here once again, and with the same excitement as the very first premiere.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But enough of me rambling, because here we have Allura Alforsson, finally arriving at the gala. Our very own- and more beautiful than ever- Princess Willow! Allura, you are looking absolutely stunning, and- I have to say my ten-year-old self is absolutely delighted to be talking with you right now. Please, tell us how you’ve been preparing for this magical night…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you believe her?” Lotor’s question comes from Shiro’s left, and when he turns, the man is handing him a glass of something amber that has the looks of being rich and smooth down the throat. The smile on his lips tells Shiro that Lotor might have brought that from his own personal collection, instead of getting a drink from the very ample bar set up for the gala. It would be very him; the gangly kid that definitely outgrew the alien prince from the series.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The interviewer or Allura?” Shiro asks, tipping his glass towards Lotor in a thank you gesture. He turns back to where people keep coming through the doors, watching their turn of being interviewed. “Because I do think Allura might be wearing the entirety of the world’s production on tulle.” He laughs, a soft and warm sound. A mixture of his fondness for his childhood friend from set and the exhilaration of the night, aided by the full-bodied scotch.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No argument about that from me, and I honestly don’t know… everything. Can you believe any of this?” The question sounds a tad too emotional from the usually cool and collected Lotor Shiro knows, but he guesses it’s okay. The night definitely warrants it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Had Shiro been told, a little over twenty years before, when he was going back home in the back of his grandparent’s car, that the casting he’d just been to would change his entire life so drastically- that not a day would go by without someone recognizing his face in the street- that he’d be able to help his family just by doing what he enjoyed the most- he wouldn’t have believed it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, there they are now, watching the people they shared their childhood with filtering into the room, all and each of them so very different from the kids they were back then, yet with the same spark of magic and awe in their eyes as the very first day they walked into the castle of lions’ set.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is very surreal, I’ll give you that. People’s excitement most of all. It hasn’t wavered one bit in all these years. It feels like we must’ve done something right, even when some of our performances were less than ideal.” Shiro defuses the emotion that threatens to come much too early in the night with a jab at their rudimentary acting in the first couple of movies, and Lotor is enough of a gentleman that laughs along.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro and Lotor make some small talk, nothing of importance, that is until Allura is freed by the interviewer and Lotor makes a beeline towards her. Shiro thinks he sees the man stop by the bar, likely getting a tall flute of whatever sparkly thing they have in pink, and can’t help but to chuckle at the crush Lotor has harboured all these years for the princess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, with a license to kill, now?” This time the voice comes from his right, and with a drawl Shiro could’ve pinpoint anywhere in the world, at any given time. It’s deeper now, with a gruff to it that was only beginning to show ten years ago, and suddenly Shiro feels bad for laughing at Lotor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith’s voice sends a small shiver up Shiro’s spine, but it’s nothing compared to the man himself when he turns and is suddenly face to face with blue-violet eyes and a lopsided smile that steals the breath from his lungs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a moment of silence that follows, where Shiro can’t do anything but flounder, seeing the kid that was his very first best friend- and later his juvenile crush- standing in front of him looking like all of Shiro’s dreams manifested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tries not to gape, not to stare like he’s never been taught manners, but Keith’s- he’s grown so much. The last time Shiro had seen him had been a little less than a year from the saga’s ending, and he was still a grumpy teen hiding under an oversized hoodie. The man in front of him is nothing like that teenager. Taller, with broad shoulders and the trimmest waist, accentuated by the waistcoat he’s wearing- where was his jacket, and who said Keith could take it off? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A blush dusts Keith’s cheekbones under Shiro’s rude staring, yet that only brings Keith’s beauty out all the more. Shiro remembers those pretty blushes from the shooting, their fumbling around things they were barely beginning to understand. But now the pink blooms on more defined angles, jawline so sharp that it could cut glass, and with the faintest hint to a stubble that Shiro’s sure Keith only shaved for the event, if he’s still anything like his rebel teen self.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- wha- Keith, I-” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Classy, Shirogane</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Shiro chastises himself. A decade of playing a myriad of roles and he can’t find an ounce of grace in his body to save face. “You, you’re-” But Keith’s grin grows in Shiro’s stumbling of words, chin tipped higher, and eyes tightening in the corners. God, he’s truly a sight, and he knows it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith waits, cheeky and teasing Shiro just with the twinkle of his eye. He keeps his hands pushed into the pockets of his dress pants, and for a moment Shiro wonders if he’s wearing the fingerless gloves. And now he’s staring at Keith’s general crotch area, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro tips the rest of the scotch back in an attempt to do just about anything else. Keith asked him a question, what was it? Luckily- </span>
  <em>
    <span>mercifully</span>
  </em>
  <span>- it’s Keith who saves Shiro from himself. And it’s not the first time in their long history together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure it’s martinis you should be drinking, shaken, not stirred. Unless you’re not a method actor, of course.” Ah, the new role, yes. Shiro can definitely talk about that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or maybe I was given free rein to change 007’s favorite drink.” He finds his voice at last, forever thankful that Keith’s patience with him hasn’t dimmed with the years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>They wouldn’t!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Keith’s voice takes an overdone scandalized tone, and Shiro laughs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah, people would surely riot.” He shrugs, the rest of his nerves easing away. This is Keith, after all. “The queen herself would probably complain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean- It is </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, so I’d say people would prolly just accept it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s that supposed to mean?” It’s Shiro’s turn to overplay his reaction while Keith balances on his feet innocently. A thing that’s so </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> that Shiro forgets about the gala for a moment, and then they’re back on set, talking about their next scenes, or the amount of homework they had waiting for them in their trailers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, come on Shiro, don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.” His eyes are daring Shiro to play dumb. Or maybe it’s just his heart reading into things. Barely a minute with Keith and he’s ready to play whatever Keith asks him to. “Everyone knows just how loved you are, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> know it. Kinda hard not to, with all those movie posters and magazine covers. The golden boy, the good guy, the love interest, the hero… I believe I read the term dilf somewhere as well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span>- that was not in a magazine. God, please tell me it wasn’t.” Shiro’s not sure whether to be flattered that Keith’s pretty much admitting to having followed his career somewhat, or horrified to discover he’s still the same little shit that would tease him to death back in the day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Although I’d always thought you had to be an actual dad to fall into that category.” One of Keith’s hands finds its way out of the pocket, and to his chin, index finger tapping against his cheek. “I wonder if maybe they meant to say you were a dadd-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“God, Keith, no!” Shiro groans, hurrying to cover Keith’s mouth before he can finish that word. And it’s both a blessing and a curse, because now he’s touching Keith, a hand on a shoulder, the other against his lips- his very soft and parted lips, hot breath hitting Shiro’s palm and making that heat travel all the way down his body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s sure he’s red all over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith’s eyes widen, his body tense for a moment, and then the darkness in the blue-violet in front of him turns into mischief, and Keith’s tongue darts out to poke at Shiro’s hand. Whatever panic was building up inside Shiro is instantly diffused when he pulls away with a scrunched up face and a laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You punk!” He doesn’t let go of Keith’s shoulder though, and so in an act so unbecoming of a famous movie star, but so </span>
  <em>
    <span>them, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Shiro wipes his hand down Keith’s back. Keith doesn’t even try to move away, the routine too familiar to the both of them, even when it’s been years since their last round of it. If Shiro notices the definition of the muscles under his touch, he ignores it for his own peace of mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Conversation turns to the gala then, the reason they’re there to begin with, a much safer topic. Still, Shiro can’t help but to feel a wonderful tightening in his stomach, knowing they seem to have been able to pick up right where they left off last time they saw each other. Or well, the previous to last at least.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the people arriving start to dwindle down, Shiro and Keith keep to the side of the large ballroom and talk about all those that are there, the couple that aren’t, and make bets on who’s the first to get tipsy and end up in the tabloids. They comment on the little details all around the room as well, how the ceiling has been turned into a wonderful night sky, and all over the place there’s props and trinkets from the movies.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It feels like coming back home,” Keith says, softly. And Shiro knows it must feel like that to him more than any other. He can’t help to take a small step closer, the need to be there if Keith needs comfort has always been innate to Shiro. Luckily, Keith doesn’t pull away, but leans a little closer to him as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Shiro tries hard enough, he’s sure he can feel Keith’s body heat where their arms are all but brushing against each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It kinda feels like prom as well,” he adds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hah, yeah, I guess it kinda does.” Keith’s voice is rougher, a bit tight, but Shiro knows better than to comment on it. He trusts that Keith will let him know if there’s something he should do to help. That’s how it had always been between them, ever since they were introduced at ages 11 and 8. “Or maybe more like an alumni reunion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro turns to Keith with a small smile, maybe to comment on how neither of them had that experience really, only to find Keith already staring up at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a fleeting moment that lasts forever, Shiro’s gaze locked with Keith’s, feeling like they’re picking up on more than their friendship, but on all the things they’d never quite said back in the day. It’s probably barely a couple of seconds of his heart bruising the inside of his ribs, and Keith’s soul open for Shiro to see in the depth of his eyes, and then it ends.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They get directed to their tables by the event host making a grand announcement about one thing or another. Shiro’s not paying attention to her, much as he tries. He’s watching Keith walk away to where he’s been seated with the Blades cast instead than with the Paladins as he is.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith seems to search for him as soon as he takes a seat though. This time when their gazes find each other, there’s another blush across Keith’s cheeks, that Keith hides quickly behind a glass of water before he turns to talk to Kolivan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro listens to the rest of the welcoming speech after he’s poked rather insistently on the ribs by Allura, but the butterflies in his stomach refuse to settle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment the host finishes speaking and food is served, conversation flows across the table. Shiro catches up with the members of the cast he’s not spoken to in some time, laughs with Allura’s sharp quips about one thing or the other, and is generally enjoying the evening, even if he can’t help trying to Keith across the room every so often.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a little before dessert that Shiro looks up from looking at the pictures of Hunk’s latest trip back home, and he can’t spot Keith on the blade’s table, or anywhere around the room for that matter. He knows it’s probably silly, and that Keith could be in the bathroom, or just out to get some air, but a part of him worries he’s missed another opportunity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He can’t afford to lose another decade before he talks to Keith again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Looking for someone, old timer?” Shiro whips his head around so fast something pulls oddly in his neck, but there’s Keith, flopping onto the chair to his right, with a grin that tells Shiro he was caught red-handed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, no, just looking. Around.” He’s not fooling anyone, and Hunk tells him as much with a purse of his lips. Shiro ignores him and turns to Keith, hoping to distract the attention from his desperation. “What are you doing here, all the way across the universe?” He teases.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh well, Willow wanted to form an alliance with Ryfon, but since the blades are unsure about the lot of you, they sent me to keep an eye out in case this was a galra plan all along.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Shiro blinks in confusion at Keith’s answer, delivered with such a straight face and not a hitch in his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Allura’s sitting in my place because she wanted to talk to Kolivan.” He rolls his eyes at Shiro, and collects the laughs of everyone around the table.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know,” Shiro starts after everyone’s back to their own thing. “All these years later, and now you’re here, all spitfire… I’m starting to believe you came to this thing just to tease me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith leans into Shiro’s space, tongue darting out to lick at his lips, calling Shiro’s eyes to the movement. It stops his heart altogether. “Maybe I did.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, um,” Shiro scrambles inside his head to find some sort of rein on his emotions and the blood that’s threatening to rush south. Of all the places where he can’t have a hard-on, the tenth anniversary of the saga he worked on when he was a kid, is the last of them. “So, what have you been working on, recently? I don’t think I’ve seen your face on any posters lately.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith’s shit-eating grin widens a fraction, letting Shiro know he’s definitely being played with- and God, what a dangerous and beautiful knowledge to have, after all these years. Keith leans back against the chair, picking up the dessert spoon from the table to leisurely spin between two of his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, well, right now, Shark in Venice. Last one was Mega Piranha,” he says, impassive, and leaving Shiro more confused than before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shark in Venice- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” To say Shiro’s confused would be an understatement. He can’t say he’s familiar with the movie, but he’s definitely familiar with </span>
  <em>
    <span>those</span>
  </em>
  <span> movies, and he’s not exactly sure what Keith is doing in them. Not that he’s judging, of course, but Keith’s a great actor, Shiro had seen a couple of reviews of plays he’d done throughout the years. He’d never heard of any movies- although he was never actively searching, if only because he was usually on the run- so he’d figured Keith was only doing plays.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, </span>
  <em>
    <span>why not?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Despite Shiro’s worries, Keith seems unbothered by the question, as if he’s accustomed to it. In fact, he’s as relaxed as ever, the spoon he’s playing with now going through his fingers one at a time. “They’re fun movies to make, there’s absolutely no pressure on them, no expectations, and most importantly, no paparazzi following me everywhere.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It makes sense, Shiro nods in agreement, remembering how hard it had been for Keith while growing up. Going from being a kid all but forgotten in the foster care system to hitting fame at such an early age. Not being able to control the excessive attention, the invasive questions, the prodding about his family and past.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Keith was a prickly kid before that, the media and the way the saga had blown up made it so that his walls were all the way up all of the time. There had even been a moment between movie one and two where Keith had almost dropped out from the saga altogether. They had talked about it- so innocent and full of childlike dreams in retrospective- and that was what had changed Keith’s mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro can still remember the way he’d found the then boy, huddled in a corner of his trailer after a really bad interview that ended with Keith’s tutor lashing out at a reporter. He was hiding as one does as a kid, under a pile of blankets and cuddling a big hippo plush that he’d almost tossed aside in shame until he saw it was just Shiro there with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Life hadn’t been all that easy for Shiro up until then, that much was true, but it had been easier than Keith’s. Still, he knew how it felt to be angry at the world over things that were out of your control. But he also knew what comforting someone looked like. So he’d gone through every other kid’s trailers, asking them to chip in with some of the sweets and candies they were all given, had taken the bounty to Keith, and they’d stayed the whole day in the trailer watching cartoons.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t until late afternoon that Keith had begun to open up with Shiro, telling him a little about his life so far, letting Shiro in behind the prickly exterior. They’d been inseparable ever since.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or at least until the saga was over, and life pulled them in different directions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re thinking too hard, Shirogane.” Adult Keith brings Shiro back to the present with a tap of the spoon against his head, and Shiro shakes it to get rid of the reminiscence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, sorry, I got a little lost in there.” Keith waves the apology away, his eyes soft, as if he somehow knew what was going on in Shiro’s head. He likely did. It seemed the night was making everyone a little too emotional. A lot had happened in the years while they were shooting the saga.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In any case,” Keith continues as if Shiro hadn’t spaced out on his explanation, “I had my share of blockbuster films, and I have the occasional theatre play when I like the script, but I don’t feel like being in the spotlight anymore. After all, not everyone was born to be Superman </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> Noah Calhoun, you know?” And he’s back at teasing him. Shiro steals the spoon to poke him on the ribs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their conversation gets cut short by Pidge getting between them to snap twenty selfies of the three, and then the lights of the room are dimmed. There’s silence slowly spreading across the room, contained emotions bubbling right on the surface of everyone’s hearts, as a video starts playing on the screen on stage.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a montage of their casting videos, and backstage moments. Bloopers, and snippets of interviews across the years of filmmaking. It tugs at everyone’s heartstrings with the passing of time so clear in front of their eyes. Watching themselves grow from little gremlins running around from make-up artists, to the teenagers and young adults they were at the very end of it all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a bout of laughter at each failed scene shown, like the one of Allura tossing Shiro into an escape pod, and Shiro couldn’t control his body with the cables, causing them to have to re-shoot it at least twelve times. Lotor mistaking Haggar for Honerva every other scene gets turned into a loop of him saying the names over and over again until the room is left in stitches. There’s a couple of the puppy- that would then be modified with CGI to become Kosmo- who kept trying to climb past Keith in their scenes together in order to get to his trainer for extra treats. Pidge getting trapped in one of Olkarion’s plants, with the rest of the paladins trying to untangle her and only making it worse. And one of Kaltenecker licking Hunk's face when he was supposed to feed her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Groans erupt in every corner of the room whenever one of them gets caught red handed smuggling candy on set. When Lance stands up to bow over the time he stole a golf cart and was chased between sets by the security team. A general </span>
  <em>
    <span>awww</span>
  </em>
  <span> is heard at every shot of them falling asleep on the sets, and good-natured booing whenever the bad guys appear on screen. At the very end of it tears are shed all around, when the last day of shooting wraps the whole video up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the lights go back up, there’s still an emotional aura to the gala, feelings that had long since been forgotten or buried under work and adult responsibilities resurfacing with the memories. At some point during it all, Shiro had leaned closer to Keith, and Keith’s hands had wrapped around his bicep, cheek resting against Shiro’s shoulder. He doesn’t want to move, and thinks he just won't, until there’s no other option left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the video over- the last thing that would be transmitted live to the fans- there’s nothing left of the evening but to mingle and slowly start going back home. Each of them to their corner of the world, their current projects, and families for those that have them. Shiro doesn’t feel like making small talk and doesn’t need to talk up any director or screenwriter to secure another job, but he doesn’t want the night to come to an end.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t want to read too much into it, but Keith is still resting on his shoulder, and Shiro thinks that maybe he doesn’t want it to end either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, Mega Piranha, uh- how was that like?” he asks, because he’s always been completely useless and dumb when it comes to Keith, a fact that doesn’t seem to have changed over the past decade.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about it, you interested in doing a class B movie anytime soon?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith snorts, but doesn’t move from his spot to answer, and just for that, Shiro will continue to say whatever first thing comes to mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shiro, come on- what would the world do if you were to become the next mad scientist that experiments with animals and radiation, only to get eaten by it ten minutes into the film?” It’s a taunt, a direct jab at Shiro’s mainstream career, but there’s no fire behind it. There’s a calm quality to Keith, like the bubble the video created hasn’t burst yet, and Shiro rejoices in it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Conversation flows around them, people laughing and trading new phone numbers, adding each other on social media, and making plans for future gatherings, yet silence surrounds them while the rest of the world keeps on turning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro can’t help but to think of the last time the two of them had been like this, quiet, content in each other’s company. The very last day of the very last promotional tour, right before Shiro had to hop on a plane to start shooting his next film.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d stayed up all night talking, about the end of the saga, the future ahead of them, and the fear of the unknown after so many years of a secure and steady schedule. Keith had been nervous then, and Shiro had been too young and stupid not to realize what they were sharing, not to try harder to keep his promises of keeping in touch in spite of the whirlwind that work would suck him into. Too stupid not to confess, and ask Keith to go with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t want to do that now. He’s lived enough, gone through enough heartbreaks and disappointments to know that he’d already found what he’d been looking for, and he’d been oblivious enough to leave it in a hotel suite after the most delicate and peaceful night of his life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Keith,” he whispers, low enough so that the rest of the table doesn’t hear, even when their cast partners had learned long ago that the two of them had their own rhythm and bond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shiro?” This time Keith does move, but barely so, just tilting his head upwards to pin Shiro with big blue-violet eyes. Shiro takes a moment longer to answer, letting time slip away by trying to count each of Keith’s lashes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want to go have breakfast with me?” Is what he finally asks, because he won’t deny he’s nervous to be toeing this line that they started drawing over a decade ago, and because he’s already made peace with how he’s just unable to function like a normal human being in front of his childhood friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” And just like that, with nothing but a word and the faintest of smiles, Keith unravels the knot of nerves that was slowly coiling in Shiro’s stomach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They end up in a small diner, far away enough from town that the chances of being recognized are low, and in a place Keith suggests, which makes Shiro believe he goes there often.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it’s easy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Talking with Keith, when it’s just the two of them, no pageantry other than the fancy suits they’re still wearing. They fall into conversation about their lives and careers as if no time had passed at all. As if that night at the hotel room after the panel had turned into morning and instead of Shiro getting on a plane they’d gone out to get the largest pile of waffles on the menu, and all the milkshake flavors just because they were young and silly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they do just that, even when Shiro’s going to regret it the next day, and even if his personal trainer for the new movie would kill him if he saw the monstrosity of sugar and syrup that sits in front of him. But they do it because they can. Because they’re still young and silly, and because the confession that Shiro held in his chest that day before he boarded the plane was still very much true, and he was high on the renewed feeling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith’s eyes across the table tell Shiro he’s not alone in it, and his smile widens as he listens to Keith talk about what he’s done in between his cult movies and theatre plays. All the work he’s put into helping kids that are in foster care, trying to give as many of them as he can a chance to do what they want the most, just as he’d been lucky enough to do so.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro’s heart swells in his chest, full of pride for the man Keith turned out to be, and it seizes up when Keith thanks him for that one pep talk in his trailer all those years past.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I would’ve never been able to help all these kids the way I do now if I had left the saga,” he says, and it’s so earnest Shiro has to brace himself on the table not to fall under the weight of Keith’s words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You would have,” Shiro assures him, because there’s no doubt that Keith would’ve become a wonderful man regardless of his choice of career. Because he’d always had fire in him. Shiro reaches out to cover Keith’s hand with his, the boldest he’s ever allowed himself to be about his feelings for his friend. “You would have found a way, I know it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long until the queen needs her super secret agent to save the planet?” Keith asks, and it’s a small and fragile thing that pierces right through Shiro’s heart, because he did that, the last time he got on a plane. He never wants to do that again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not for another couple of months.” He turns Keith’s palm upwards, fingers touching the soft skin on his wrist where his pulse is loud. “But I do have a pretty tight training schedule to get into those high couture gadget suits, so maybe next breakfast could be at my place, and we can eat something that’s not covered in powdered sugar.” He smiles, but Keith’s grin is wider, and it sends his heart into a gallop inside his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what am I supposed to do while you do your situps, mr. agent?” He’s teasing again, and Shiro knows for a fact that this time around they’re finally doing things right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you could train with me-” his fingers travel a little further into Keith’s shirt sleeve. “Spot me-” bold, he draws shapeless patterns into the inside of his forearm. “Or maybe write your own radioactive, cross-breeding script, and I can be the star in your very first movie as a director.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My, Shiro, nepotism? Where have the mighty fallen?” Keith’s eyes are darkened, but his lips are still curved into that mischievous smile that Shiro knows too well. “And here I was, thinking you were the nice scout boy I knew from childhood.” Even as he says it, Keith’s leg is teasing its way between Shiro’s, promising a lot more than silly banter in the future. And that too, is easy. Thinking of a future with Keith at his side is as easy as breathing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What can I say, I’ve been seduced by your talks of Sharknado and Raptor Island.” He shrugs, and smiles around a big mouthful of waffles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith’s laughter fills the diner, happy and careless, and Shiro forks another bite deciding he definitely won’t be regretting anything the next day.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*All I'm saying is- tiny paladins and tiny galra, that's all*</p>
<p>Comments feed me, long, short, keyboard smashes, emojis, your choice!</p>
<p>Come chat with me on <a href="https://twitter.com/ragdollrory">twitter</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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